OpenType : CDD

OpenType

Beginning in Autumn 2005 with Written Square Capitals and Rustic Capitals, all new Crazy Diamond Design fonts are now supplied in OpenType® format. All typefaces will be provided in OpenType form by Summer 2007.

OpenType is a cross-platform font file format developed jointly by Adobe and Microsoft. It brings a number of general benefits to the use of all fonts on both Windows and Macintosh computers, but also offers particular advanced facilities which future Crazy Diamond Design fonts will make special use of.

Adobe state: "The two main benefits of the OpenType format are its cross-platform compatibility (the same font file works on Macintosh and Windows computers), and its ability to support widely expanded character sets and layout features, which provide richer linguistic support and advanced typographic control."

This allows us to:

include a far greater range of historical characters within our fonts than previously possible, and
the 'advanced typographic control' allows us to embed particular 'substitutions' and rules within our Ancient fonts, which (when used with suitable OpenType-enabled applications) will automatically substitute appropriate character combinations with historical ligatures, abbreviations or alternative characters.

For example, typing the following characters: would result in:

1. Accessing the Historical Characters

OpenType fonts are in Unicode format.Whilst the majority of standard applications don't currently support OpenType's advanced typographic features, almost all can use Unicode and access the full range of historical characters.

PC:
All Windows-based applications accept Unicode fonts and can access all historical characters (glyphs). There are two methods of access:

Some applications contain a character or glyph palette, which will display and provide access to all glyphs in the font. Examples include Microsoft Word’s Insert Symbol command from the Insert menu (ensure that the correct font name is shown in the drop-down menu, and scroll down to find the full set of glyphs) - click on illustration to the right. Some OpenType-enabled applications (see below) provide fully functional glyph palettes.
In any application, to access glyphs directly from the keyboard type the four-character Unicode code point, followed by pressing [ALT]+X together. The code points are provided on the reference sheet supplied with each font - an example is shown below, with the code point for thorn circled:

Macintosh:
Macintosh OSX and System 8.5 and above will recognise Unicode fonts and can access all historical characters (glyphs). However, for systems below 8.5, and on any mac for extensive work in Microsoft Word or other non-OpenType enabled applications, we recommend the installation and use of the TrueType font supplied (indicated with a TT suffix to the name) rather than the OpenType font (OT). The reference sheet for the TT font provides keyboard combinations which allow easy access to most historical characters from any application.

There are, however, two ways to obtain access to the full range of OpenType historical characters (glyphs) with System 8.5+ and OS X. Before using either method for the first time, go to System Preferences, choose International, click Input Menu, and ensure that both 'Character Palette (Unicode)' and 'Unicode Hex Input' have a tick next to them (OSX); in System 8.5+ the same option can be found in Control Panel under Keyboard.

Some applications contain a character or glyph palette, which will display and provide access to all glyphs in the font. In OSX choosing Special Characters from the Keyboard menu (the flag in the menu bar) will reveal the Character Palette (open it when you are working with an OpenType font, and choose 'Glyphs' from the View pop-down menu; scroll through the glyph display below to find the historical glyphs). Some OpenType-enabled applications (see below) provide fully functional glyph palette.
The 'Unicode Hex Input' method can be used in many applications. Before entering any characters, 'Unicode Hex Input' must be selected in the Keyboard menu (designated by the flag icon).Then hold down the Option key, and type the four-hex-digit Unicode code point as found on the font's reference sheet (see image above).

2. Advanced Typographic Controls

In addition to a wider range of characters, our OpenType fonts also contain special features such as additional styles (small caps, alternative character forms etc.) and automatic substitutions (for example, replacing s characters with the historical long-s where appropriate). Access to these features is dependent on individual applications, however, and at present support is patchy.

OpenType Enabled Applications

These are curently limited, but are expected to grow over time given the join Microsoft-Adobe specification. They include:

Adobe InDesign CS / CS2- Mac | Windows
Good support: contains an OpenType features menu to select substitutions, and a Glyphs palette which provides access to all characters in the font, including alternative forms for each character (very useful for our fonts!). See further information on the CreativeTechs blog.
Adobe Photoshop - Mac | Windows
Photoshop 7 allows access to a few substitutions via the contextual menu in the Character palette, and Photoshop CS provides a much improved range through the same route. No version currently supports glyph selection however. See further information on heathrow.com.
Adobe Illustrator CS- Mac | Windows
Full support: contains an OpenType palette where substitutions can be selected from the contextual menu; and a Glyph palette which gives acess to all characters. See further information on the CreativeMac site.
Quark XPress 7 - Mac | Windows
Good support: substitutions can be selected from the OpenType pop-up menu on the Measurements palette and a Glyphs palette provides access to all characters, and also shows alternative forms for each character (very useful for our fonts!). See further information under OpenType Support on the CreativePro site.
Apple TextEdit - Mac
Near full support: choose Font > Show Fonts from the Format menu to reveal the Font window: from the action menu at the base (cog symbol) select Characters to reveal the Character Palette (for visually selecting glyphs), and Typography to see all OpenType features in the font. See the CodePoetry site for further information.
Mellel - Mac (http://www.redlers.com/mellel.html)
Good support for substitutions (see below) - access them through the OpenType menu under Character Appearance; also fully supports the Apple Character Palette (see Accessing the Historial Characters above).
Microsoft Office 2004 - Mac
Limited support: extra characters will not show up in the Insert Symbol dialog, but characters can be inserted using the Apple Character Palette (see Accessing the Historial Characters above). No support for advanced typographic features at present.
Microsoft Office 2003/XP - Windows
Symbol from the Insert menu will display allow access to all characters in the font (see Accessing the Historial Characters above). No support for advanced typographic features at present.

Which Substitutions are Provided in our Fonts?

Each of our OpenType fonts contains a number of substitution features which (when used with suitable enabled applications - see above) will automatically substitute appropriate character combinations with historical ligatures, abbreviations or alternative characters. For example:

Each font contains a different set of features, depending on historical appropriateness, range of glyphs available etc. Feature codes are provided in the OpenType section of each font's display page; for example:

indicates that the font contains three features: clig substitutes historical abbreviations; hist substitutes s with long s; and smcp provides a small capitals glyph set.

A key to each feature is provided in our OpenType Feature Key

Note that OpenType applications are currently patchy in their support of these features; some (such as Text Edit) will provide access to the full set, but others might only provide access to the standard and historical ligatures (liga, hlig). The names of features also vary by application, and so some trial and error is required until standards emerge across the applications.

Further Details for OpenType

See http://www.adobe.co.uk/type/opentype/ or http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/default.htm

OpenType is a registered trademark of Adobe and Microsoft, and is used here for information purposes only.

Updated March 2007.